Balancing Minds
by hawaiianshirtguy
Summary: When a young man arrives on Dinotopia's shores, it marks the beginning of a new life for him. The question is whether he can resolve his own inner conflicts first. (PG JIC)
1. Storm of the Body

Balancing Minds

Chapter 1: Storm of the Body

The storm raged outside the hulk of the _Dawn Excursion_. The aged research vessel tossed and moaned against the strain of the high seas. Deep in the hold, someone was waking.

The first thing he was aware of was the groaning of the metal bulwarks inside the ship. They moaned like Atlas beneath the weight of the world. The sound ground against his ears like nails on a chalkboard. He was aware of the sound. Slowly, his tortured mind began to find itself. He became aware of the pain. Torturous white-hot pain that drove any cognitive thought from his mind, and threatened to drive him back into the nothingness of unconsciousness.

'No, stay awake,' he willed himself.

He forced himself to open his eyes. It felt as if they'd had sand poured into them. He found himself staring fixated at a broken clock on the wall. How appropriate, since time was pointless right now. He had no idea how long he had been here, nor even whether it had been days, or weeks, or months.

His body was lacerated with incisions. Most were stitched tight and still fresh. Numerous tubes and IVs were strapped to his body. He tried to move his legs...no, not _his_ legs. Something in the back of his brain hissed at him. Instead, he gingerly levered himself up on one elbow. He scanned the room to get his bearings. As dirty as this operating room was, it was a wonder none of his afflictions were infected.

The bulkheads of the _Dawn Excursion_ screamed again. This time he was able to get his rebellious legs to cooperate with him. He got up and stood tottering next to the table on which he had lain. The deck fell beneath him as the ship entered another trough and he was thrown to the floor, the impact causing him to see stars. Every cut and bruise was screaming through his nerves. There was only one thing that screamed louder in the youth's mind, and it hissed.

_Revenge._

'Shut up. You're not even supposed to exist.'

What he did to us...

"ME! What he did to me!" he screamed, his voice echoing against the empty metal walls.

Hiss.

Somehow he managed to stand again, stumbling towards the doorway, down the hall and up the nearest gangway. The back of his mind hissed in fury and purpose. He wanted only to find _that man_. The man who had taken him from everything and everyone he cared about, that man who had subjected him to this ungodly torture, that man whose life he wanted nothing more than to strangle beneath his fingers.

The _Dawn Excursion_ did not have much longer to live above the waves. Were you to see her decks in her final moments, you would have seen a young man, mangled and bandaged beyond belief, stumbling across the impossibly plunging deck. You would also have seen an old man, gray-haired and worn, rain jacket soaked with the deluge of the storm. Words passed between them, unheard over the sound of the storm.

With one final effort the youth lunged at the man. The _Dawn Excursion_ gave one dying scream and cracked right down her middle, sentencing both man and youth to the deep.

The cold water was a shock. The boy gasped for air. He came up sputtering and coughing. Several of his sutures had ruptured, and he was now bleeding heavily. The cold seemed to numb his already weakened senses. Through the rain and the waves he could see the man swimming for a bit of flotsam.

'Even now he doesn't give a care.'

Even as he slipped beneath the waves he cursed the man that had wronged him thus.

His first thought was irony at the fact he was thinking. Again, slow consciousness worked its way to prominence. With it returned the pain. The youth cursed consciousness for its intrusion. With a horrific moan he rolled himself over on the sand; his features wrenched in agony as the sand grated over the numerous incisions and cuts. The salt water burned like a brand from the furnace. The youth had no idea how he had landed on this shore.

The storm had taken the _Dawn Excursion_ down in the early afternoon, and it was now approaching dusk. The gathering dark did not encourage the young man. He wanted nothing more than to have gone beneath the waves, yet this impossible circumstance of being stranded instead of drowned awakened the base desire to survive.

He stumbled towards a large rock jutting out from the beach. If nothing else, it would provide a little shelter from the wind. It was amazing that the young man's body was able to carry him at all. He had lost much blood in the sea, and just the effort of walking reopened the wounds.

Sitting with his back to the rock, his dying senses brought a sound to his attention. Far down the beach someone was calling. He could make out the distant pinpoints of light. He tried to call, but could managed no more than a weak, "Help?" It seemed to take hours for the search party to reach him. When it did, he cried.

'So I am dying. Bloody appropriate for dinosaurs to be my final delusion,' he thought, 'and talking dinosaurs no less.'

A tiny protoceratops was saying something to him; the youth paid no attention.

A predatory hiss came the voice in the back of his mind. He clenched his eyes against the force pounding in the back of his brain. Yet he was still weak from his ordeal, losing the fight for dominance over that thing in his head. He was losing strength fast, even now the haze that precedes unconsciousness was gathering at the edges of his vision. At the last moment he lost his battle for control.

He stared the little dinosaur in the eyes and _roared_.


	2. Recovery

Chapter 2: Recovery

The young man chuckled ruefully to himself as he regained consciousness. The monotony of continually slipping in and out of consciousness was beginning to irk him. This time, he noted, was different. The pain that had been such frequent company to consciousness was greatly diminished. His body and brain felt as if they were wrapped in heavy gauze.

He kept his eyes closed, not wanting to shatter this light little dream, for a dream he thought it was. For a few precious seconds he thought he was home, in his own bed, and that it had all been one horrible nightmare.

The back of his mind argued otherwise, hiss.

He opened his eyes. The room was spartan, but hospitable. Sun shone through an open window, and he could hear the sounds of quiet civilization outside. He sat up in bed. Across the room, a small girl of perhaps six years old stood in the doorway. Upon seeing him awaken she turned and fled down the hallway. The young man took a minute to run a hand over his head. A slight headache and tangible scars reminded him of what he'd been through.

He climbed out of bed and walked over to a table on one side of the room. Someone had been kind enough to set a washbasin and some water on the tabletop. The young man splashed some water over his face and drank from cupped hands. He dried his face with a small towel and sat back on the bed to try and think.

A few moments later he heard the sounds of an argument going on down the hallway. Two male voices were conversing in rapid tones. The young man leaned back to wait.

"There is no way you are going to convince me to go talk to that creature," said the first.

"It's not a matter of convincing you. We need to find out more about him. Besides, he is a dolphinback and deserves out hospitality," replied the second.

"Hospitality? The boy is dangerous. He positively roared at me. I've heard Tyrannosaurs that weren't so vicious vocally."

"Come on Tarq," said the second voice.

"Why this is positively outrageous."

The voices approached his door, and in walked a protoceratops and an elderly gentleman. The young man eyed the two appraisingly. The elderly man was tall, despite his age, and was very well kept. He wore baggy breeches of denim blue with crimson tracing and a short-sleeved white shirt with multiple small pockets. The young protoceratops wore a vest of similar denim and red pattern. All three were silent as the young man finished studying his visitors.

"So," he sighed, "it wasn't a delusion after all."

"If you are referring to the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans then you are quite right," insisted the protoceratops.

The youth looked at the reptile but said nothing. The man pulled a chair up next to the bed.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves, I'm Silas Green, five mothers Australian, and this is my friend and colleague Tarq. One of the skybax riders saw you floating after the storm, so we sent out a search party. They found you and they brought you here. We've been keeping an eye on you while you recovered from your ordeal."

The youth stared out the window again.

"Thank you," he said.

After several moments of silence the doctor continued.

"Won't you at least tell us your name?"

The youth turned and stared the doctor in the eye. He was about to respond, but stopped. He tried again to think of an appropriate response. The back of his mind hissed.

"I don't have a name anymore," he said.

"What do you mean?" began Tarq, "Everyone has a name, don't you..."

Silas waved Tarq into silence.

"Perhaps you'd just like to tell us what happened," he suggested gently.

For a long time the young man was silent. Then he stood up, walked to the window and began his tale.

"I was your average American kid, I guess," began the youth, "Maybe a little quieter than most. My father was an ambassador for the US government, so we traveled around a lot. We were in Hong Kong for some stupid politician's convention when our car was hijacked. Some local gang apparently planned to hold us for ransom in exchange for several of their members in prison. We thought they would let us go, but..."

The boy shuddered and sobbed. He paused and took a moment to recompose himself.

"They killed him."

"I thought I was going to die too. Instead, I was sold to a research company. They still have slave trade in the orient, even if it is illegal. I got handed off to _Dr. Yong Schuwang_."

At the naming of the doctor the boy's face wrinkled in contempt.

"Dr. Schuwang was a nutcase if ever there was one. I was just one more experiment in a string of those whose life he ruined. He had this half-brained idea that he could muck with life itself. He was the first to ever try resurrecting dinosaurs from the dead, even before Jurassic Park and the like predicted the possibility. He thought he could play god."

"And he cared nothing for his subjects."

The young man clenched his fists.

"He was in the middle of working his experiments on me when the authorities busted him. He packed me and himself onto an ancient research vessel and was fleeing the country when the storm caught up with us."

The youth frowned again.

"I hope he drowned."

His hand reached up to wipe away a lone tear from his eye. He turned to look at Silas.

"Back there I was human, and had a name. Now I don't know what I am."

The man and protoceratops looked at each other and back at the young man. The boy's scars were starting to heal, thanks to Silas's care. Yet even as he had been tending the unconscious young man, he had wondered at the existence of the lad before him.

The experiments that had been inflicted on the boy were marvels and horrors of a medical mind gone mad. A long semi-prehensile reptilian tail was grafted into his spine. From his hips down he was entirely reptilian, with massive leg muscles complete with toe claws to rival any deinonychus in the province. His legs and tail were covered in scales that shifted color from dark green to jet black.

Many other horrible tortures had been inflicted on the boy, including a resonating chamber in his throat that gave him the ability to create the saurian roar that had so frightened young Tarq at the beach. However, many of these were beyond either the knowledge of the boy, or the medical experience of Silas Green.

"I'm sorry," offered Silas, after a few moments.

"Yeah, aren't we all," replied the young man, bitterly.

After a few moments the doctor stood.

"I'll see if I can get some fresh clothes brought for you. We'll be having lunch later if you'd care to join us."

"Thank you," muttered the boy, not turning to face the man.

Young Tarq waddled over to the bed. He ventured to say something, but thought better of it and shuffled off down the hall. Silas paused for a moment in the doorway.

"I truly am sorry, my friend. Rest easy."

A while later someone came by with a change of clothes. A vest of the familiar denim and a pair of short breeches and sash had been provided. He donned vest and breeches, and tied the sash about his waist. He poured himself another drink from the basin on the table, then emerged from his room.

At the end of the hallway was an open breakfast room. Silas was conversing with Tarq and another protoceratops. Two gallimimuses were twittering away in another corner, and from an open doorway smells of a kitchen wafted enticingly through the room.

At the young man's entrance Silas Green broke off his conversation. The Doc extended a hand to the young man and led him to a place at the table. Several of the occupants in the room couldn't help but stare at the biological conundrum that now joined them. The young man tried to smile politely and proceeded to take his seat.

Several ladies, both human and saurian, came from the kitchen with burgeoning bowls of fruit and salad. The youth was watching the proceedings with half interest when he felt a tug on his pants leg. The young girl from earlier was there. She offered him a roll from a basket she carried. Moody though he was, the young man could not help but give her a small smile and accept. The girl giggled and ran back behind her mother's skirts.

Conversation was put on hold while the company had their meal, and was only resumed after several helpings had been doled out. Eventually Silas turned the conversation back to the young man.

"I've explained your story to the village elders and we're all in agreement that you should stay with us here at Sapling Grove until you are fully recovered."

"Thank you, sir, but I think I'd rather see about finding some way home."

"I'm afraid there's not one, my friend."

"What do you mean there's not one?" the young man challenged.

"We've lived here on Dinotopia for hundreds of generations. The island is surrounded by reefs that give no safe way in or out, and the storms that frequently surround us make flying out impossible, even if we had a craft stable enough to make such a long aerial trip. We're rather cut off from the rest of the world."

Silas stood up and walked over to place a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"I know you've been through a lot, but maybe here you'll be able to find some peace. Once you've seen how we people and dinosaurs live together..."

"Peace?" Exploded the young man, "What peace is there for me? I don't even know what I am! I don't want your life, I don't want your peace, and I don't want your dinosaurs. Having one monster inside my head is enough, I don't need any more to live with either. I just want to go home."

The youth slammed his fist on the table, and ran from the room. Tarq momentarily tried to stop him, but a predatory snarl sent the ceratopsian scurrying out of the way as the young man fled the room, unable to outrun his own inner storm.


	3. Storm of the Mind

Chapter 3: Storm of the Mind

The youth sat weeping on a large rock on the beach. He had run for miles, tears streaming down his face, until even these unnatural legs could run no further. What had he done to deserve this fate? The voice in the back of his head whispered to life again.

Hiss

"Leave me alone," said the youth, speaking his thoughts aloud. He struggled to force the other mind away.

Hiss

"You shouldn't even exist."

I do. said the reptilian voice. No audible sound or real spoken word did it make, yet the young man somehow couldn't help but understand.

"You're just another experiment."

So are you, now.

"I don't want you. Now just get out of my life!"

To where? I'm as much a part of you now as you are of me.

"No."

Hiss...yes.

I will not be put aside. I see your thoughts, your memories. We are joined minds, remember? I know what kind of man you are. You shrink from confrontation, you expect everyone to cater to your desires, you settle for mediocrity, and then you sit here and weep over the unfairness of it all. You are weak. I will not be put aside by your impotence.

Tears streamed down the youth's face. The voice settled to a whisper even more fearful.

You let him die.

The image of the hijacking flashed through his mind. The image of the kidnappers standing over his father's body, the smell of the gunsmoke, it all came pouring back to him.

"No. I couldn't have done anything. They killed him. They had guns, I couldn't do anything. It's not my fault, it's not my fault!"

Hiss.

On and on went the argument. The youth shuddered beneath the pressures warring beneath his skull. His hands clenched in tight fists, sweat pouring from his forehead, and streaks of color waved down his skin.

"I just want to die," he sobbed.

His reptilian half hissed in derision.

Wresting control of himself, the young man suddenly made a desperate lunge into the water. The reptilian mind shrieked.

I'm not going to let you kill us.

"Better to die than let you out. You think I can't feel you there? You don't avoid confrontations; you cause them. You're aggressive, a predatory animal that thinks of no one but yourself, how you can get to the top. You hate everything that does not fit your own ideas, including me. We both deserve to die."

I'll not die for your ethics, boy.

"I'm not going to live hell on earth for your existence."

The youth stood there, waist deep in the ocean brine. Contortions of hatred, fear, and despair twisted his face. His chest heaved in exertion. He ordered his body forward, the other part of him ordered back. The two wrestled for control.

By this time Silas and Tarq had reached the portion of the shoreline where the young man now fought desperately with himself. The two plunged into the water towards him.

"Leave me be," he shouted to them.

"My friend, please do not do this," implored Tarq.

"I said leave me be!"

Silas and Tarq drew up short of him. A predatory snarl warned them against approaching further. The two watched the turmoil before them.

Slowly, the boy's mouth formed words.

"I cannot live this way."

Then to the astonishment of the two onlookers, the raptor mind forced its way to the surface. With a series of chirps, snarls, and whistles the velociraptor responded.

"By the sunstones, I don't believe it," said Tarq.

"What? What'd he say?" implored Silas.

"He's speaking perfect velociraptor, though the dialect is ancient. He says that he will not die this way either."

"But he just said..." Silas began.

"I know what I said," interrupted the youth, this time in English again.

It seems we are at a stalemate.

"An impasse."

Whistles and clicks responded.

"I will not yield," said Tarq, translating the raptor mind's response.

"Nor will I," the youth replied to himself.

For long minutes no one spoke, even the young man's minds were silent. The rolling boom of waves on the sands seemed to mark out the seconds of inexorable time as the young man struggled against himself.

Silas took a tentative step forward.

"My friend, I don't know all the horrors you faced in your old life. I don't know what it is that reeks havoc against yourself. I only ask that you come back with us. Do not give into this despair. Here you may at least have the chance to find your balance. Please, come back with us."

The young man's eyes stared back at Silas, as if seeing him from a great distance away. Silas extended a hand to the boy. The boy's minds argued silently.

Well?

'What shall we do?'

We can't just stand here all day, and night is fast approaching.

'You just want to get out.'

I still speak the truth, though.

'I guess we'll have to accept then.'

I will survive.

'Then so must I, somehow.'

Taking a deep breath the young man turned toward the shore. Slowly, he began walking back toward solid ground. Silas and Tarq followed closely. When the small group reached the shore, the full weight of his battle came down on the boy. His legs locked, and were it not for Silas close at hand to catch him, he would have fallen. Exhausted by his ordeal, the young man gratefully accepted Silas's assistance. With an arm over the older man's shoulder the young man and his companions slowly began making their way back up the road towards Sapling Grove.


	4. Maria and Mountainstrong

Chapter 4: Maria and Mountainstrong

Our young man found life in Sapling Grove to be a quiet repast from his previous experiences in the outside world. He spent several days continuing recovery from his kidnapping and unethical treatment. It was also a good chance to recuperate from his battle with himself.

During this time Silas and Tarq found many opportunities to instruct their new acquaintance with the norms of Dinotopian lifestyle. Though their young friend was usually in a melancholy mood, they did find him to be a quick study.

Tarq, in particular, was immensely interested in the young man's inherent ability to understand velociraptor. The young man was initially wary of letting the saurian part of himself surface. Eventually he and Tarq were able to have some small conversations in velociraptor. However, most of these conversations ended in disaster when the young man's raptor self got tired of conversing with what it considered to be a perfectly good meal.

When not appeasing Tarq with long conversations, the young man spent his days wandering the town. He would go from shop to shop, from tavern to tavern. The people of Sapling Grove were quite hospitable. Yet, they also found him to be a bit of a quandary. His status as a dolphinback made him an overnight celebrity, but his biological condition made him an object of even greater attention. For the most part, the young man was oblivious to this consideration. The conflict within himself often left him moody and brooding. So the townsfolk tended to let him be, though more than one household spoke of the strange new dolphinback with marked interest and curiosity over the dinner table.

For now, the young man and the other part of his mind seemed to have reached a temporary truce. The two minds tended to operate independent of one another. True, their physical existence was shared, but neither was willing to yet reopen a contest for supremacy. So for now all was quiet.

A few days later, he was in the middle of lunch at one of the local taverns when Silas and Tarq approached him with a proposition.

"My friend, you seem to have taken well to our humble village," said Silas.

"I guess," replied the youth.

"We think it is time for you to go on to Sauropolis. All new dolphinbacks go to Sauropolis. There you will be able to learn all you need to know about life on Dinotopia. They can help you find an occupation, perhaps even a saurian companion," explained Tarq.

The youth eyed them skeptically, then shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess I've got to go sometime."

"Oh, don't worry. You won't be travelling alone. There is a small brachiosaur convoy that will be travelling down to Sauropolis two days from now, old friends of ours. You can join them on your way. I'm sure they'd greatly enjoy your company."

The youth finished the last of his meal and stood up.

"So when do I meet these friends of yours?" he asked.

Silas chuckled kindly, "They're coming down the north road right now. See?"

Looking out across the patio, the young man could clearly see the massive form of a brachiosaurus and its rider making their way into town. The rider was decked out in a red and yellow checkerboard outfit. The braciosaur wore a scarf about his neck of identical pattern. The rider waved to the people below from her perch, and the brac gave a long trumpeting greeting. Though the young dolphinback had seen several dinosaurs in his time at Sapling Grove, this was the first to truly cause him to stand in awe. People from all over town were turning out to greet them. Silas and Tarq too, bringing their young friend with them.

The brachiosaur and rider stopped at the town square, and the rider deftly slid down a rope from her harness, catching herself just above the hard surface of the stone pavement. Silas approached her and shook her hand warmly.

"Maria, how good it is to see you and Mountainstrong again," he said. The wiry old lady smiled in return.

"I'd told you we'd be around," she replied, "Old Mountainstrong and I have still got some miles in us, don't we, Mountainstrong?"

The brac nodded his head and trumpeted in agreement. Maria smiled and patted the massive leg next to her.

"Now let's get some lunch, Silas. It's not like you to keep company waiting so long."

Silas laughed and led the way back to his house, locked in hearty conversation with Maria. Tarq and the young man followed. The four soon found themselves busy in conversation over a hot meal. The young man was quiet for the most part, and let Silas and Tarq do most of the talking. He watched in minor amazement as the brachiosaur rider put away a very large lunch, this old woman was spryer than she looked. As the meal drew to a close Maria pushed back her chair and began examining the young man across from her.

"So you're the new dolphinback everyone has been talking about," she said contemplatively.

"I wasn't aware I was subject to such far-reaching attention," the young man replied quietly.

Maria chuckled, "My boy, you're a dolphinback. That alone makes you a minor celebrity. The fact that you are so...well, unique, makes you doubly so."

The young man frowned at the mention of his condition.

"Oh, no offense. No offense, my young friend," Maria cajoled, "Silas and Tarq have told me enough about you to know that it's tough on you. That's no reason to roll over and play sour just yet."

"Well I know all about you, so it's only fair to introduce myself. Name's Maria Evencurl, just call me Maria. I've grown up my whole life here on Dinotopia; seven mothers Irish to be precise. I've been working with brachiosaur's since I was eight, and I've been serving as a convoy leader since I was twenty-one. That big fellow outside is my companion Mountainstrong. We both grew up in Treetown and have been travelling Dinotopia all our lives."

"Nice to meet you," the young man offered.

"Pleased to meet you too," she replied, "And glad to have you travelling with us. It'll be nice to have some company on the road to Saurapolis."

"Well, I'm not sure how good a company I make, but..."

"Nonsense," interrupted Maria, "I'm sure it will be splendid to have you along. Have you already got your things packed?"

"Well, honestly I haven't got much of anything to pack. Just a few pairs of clothes Silas had made for me."

"That'll do just fine. Now run along and go pack them in the cargo container on Mountainstrong's back. Then you can see about giving Mountaintop a good scrub, he needs it after travelling on dusty roads all day."

"But that could take all afternoon," the youth protested.

Maria raised an eyebrow.

"So? What else have you to do? Go on, shoo."

The young man reluctantly went out to pack his things and begin the monumental task of scrubbing the brachiosaur. Silas, Maria, and Tarq watched him go.

"So, Maria," offered Tarq, "What do you make of him?"

Maria picked up her mug and took a sip of her tea before responding.

"He's interesting, he is," said she, quietly. "But he's troubled, very troubled. That's no surprise, considering what's been done to him. Still, we'll have to wait and see, won't we?"

It was early the next morning when Tarq woke the young man from his sleep.

"Come on," said Tarq, "You don't want to be late on your first day of travels?"

The young man reluctantly arose, both his human and raptor minds grumbling at the being so unceremoniously awoken. Groggily, he made his way down to the square. Silas's family was there to see them off. The young man shook hands with Silas and his wife, and thanked them for their care of him during his recovery. The young man was about ready to leave when he felt a tug once more on he side of his breeches. It was Silas's daughter.

In her hands she held a small bracelet, hand-woven from the looks of it. In the center was a tiny little bead of some shining crystal the young man had never seen before. Tentatively, the young girl offered him the bracelet.

"What? You mean this is for me?" he asked her.

She nodded, her big blue eyes looking into his. Carefully, she wrapped the bracelet around his wrist and tied the cord in a little bow. It was such a simple gift, a simple act of love. Yet it touched the young man deeply.

"Thank you," he said.

With a final parting wave to his friends, the young man set out in the giant footsteps of Mountainstrong, on his way at last.

Silas watched as the convoy moved out across the morning horizon.

"Breath deep, my friend, and may you one day find peace."


	5. Harsh Truth

Chapter 5: Harsh Truth

For what seemed to be the millionth time today, the young man had to stop to wipe the dust out of his eyes. He, Maria, and Mountainstrong had been on the road for two days now. Maria had offered him a perch on Mountainstrong's back, but he had declined. One thing that both of his minds agreed on was that it was better to walk. At least it relieved some of his pent up frustration.

He ran to catch back up to his companions. Mountainstrong's long strides had carried them over many miles, and the young man had to keep up a steady jog to keep pace. Oh well, his raptor legs could carry him.

"Doing alright down there?" Maria called from her perch.

"Fine," he replied.

Maria chuckled and patted Mountainstrong's neck.

"Well, I think I need a rest stop," she said. Mountainstrong eyed her suspiciously. The young man shrugged and took a seat on a nearby rock. Maria deftly swung down from her seat, grabbing a small lunch sack as she did so. She plopped down next to the young man, and Mountainstrong moved off to go find himself some floral lunch of his own.

"You do pretty well keeping up with ole' Mountainstrong," said Maria. She broke a loaf of bread in half and tossed it to the young man.

"It's the legs," he replied. Though he still loathed his biological condition, he had to admit to himself that his raptor half served him well. Physically at least, if not mentally.

'**Hiss,'** chuckled the back half of his mind.

"So what do you think of Dinotopia, my young friend?" Maria continued.

"It's nice I guess. It's not home."

Maria smiled knowingly. "True, but I think you'll find it to be a wonderful place. After all, where else can you find dinosaurs and people living in such harmony?"

The young man frowned at her.

"Don't try to laud me with your messages of peace and harmony, Maria. I'm sure your little wonderland is cute and all, but you're not stuck with a flesh-eating monster in your skull. You're not stuck not knowing who or what you are. You..."

"All right then, youngster," Maria coolly cut him short, "Suppose if I was. What would I do about it, eh? Come on, tell me. Am I to go on fighting myself till my dying day? Should I drive myself mad trying to be two people, or should I at least try the one chance offered to me to find some balance? However cock-eyed it may sound, lad, Dinotopia is your one chance to find some peace with yourself."

"Don't preach to me, Maria."

The sage old woman looked him straight in the eye.

"I already did, lad. The question is now, what are you going to do about it?"

She stood up, serenely dusted the crumbs off her riding outfit, and whistled for Mountainstrong. Nimbly she climbed up to her perch and off they went. Leaving the young man to jog along below and resume his arguments with himself.


	6. Truce

Chapter 6: Truce

Try as he might, he couldn't get to sleep. He knew Maria was probably sound asleep and he could easily recognized the heavy breathing of Mountainstrong who was asleep nearby. He stared idly at the stars overhead.

'**Brooding again?'**

'Maybe. You ought to know. You've been doing it too.'

**'Hiss. Raptors don't brood, we calculate,' **countered the harsh voice inside the young man's brain.

'Whatever, leave me alone. I'm trying to get to sleep.'

**'We need the rest,' **agreed the other voice.

'Must you keep reminding me of your presence?'

**'It wouldn't do to have you forgetting me, now, would it?'**

'Not likely.'

The young man rolled over on the blanket and stretched his tail. Idly, he began scraping the bark off an old limb with one of his sickle-claws. He sighed.

'How is this even possible?' he pondered, 'Dinosaurs were supposed to be extinct. Now I'm stuck with you in a land where I'm supposed to be best buddies with prehistoric reptiles.'

**'Seems fitting that your meager species is dependent on creatures greater than yourselves.'**

'Oh, I suppose that explains why humans rule the world.'

**'Hiss.'**

The two minds were quiet for a while.

'Maria is right you know,' ventured the human after a while.

**'What? You were listening to that woman's little sermon?'**

'I'm serious. We can't fight each other forever.'

**'So what would you propose?' **asked the raptor, skeptically.

'I don't know. Can we at least try to get along? A truce or something...'

**'Hah. This is the problem with you humans. You rely on nebulous feelings and emotions to survive. All right, you want a truce, here's my offer. We'll share control. You control for a period of time, then I do for a period of time. You don't interfere with what I do, and I won't interfere with you. Understand?'**

The youth sighed. 'At least don't do anything outside the law, like trying to eat interpreters or anything.'

**'Very well, but at least see that we get some sort of meat. I'm getting tired of these bread and vegetable dinners.'**

The young man chuckled. 'Well at least that's something we can agree on. I'd be in the mood for a steak about now, or even a fish fry.'

The raptor mind chuckled wryly, also. **'Finally you say something that makes some sense. Now, if you don't mind a second opinion, I'd say we'd better get some sleep.'**

The young man nodded, rolled back over on his blanket, and slept.

- - -

For the next several days the young man was able to get along with himself, if not congenially at least without too many harsh words. His saurian half seemed contented for the moment to enjoy having some free reign to run and explore and practice long dormant hunting techniques. Meanwhile his human half tried to get used to being in the mental back seat. He found it not dissimilar to being in a dream, where one experiences all the sensations but has no control.

Maria and Mountainstrong kept an eye on the young man from their elevated position. Though their traveling companion had not spoken of this new truce, Maria hoped that he was starting to come to terms with himself.

Their journey continued on without much excitement. A skybax rider did join them for lunch one afternoon. The rider and Maria exchanged news from around the island. Most of it involved people or events the young man knew nothing about, but he did overhear something about there being a small outbreak of fever in the northwest. However this was soon forgotten, because his attention was engaged in examining the skybax.

It was about midday four days after the skybax rider visited when the young man heard something odd.

"Maria, do you hear anything?" he called up to her.

She smiled and nodded.

"A glorious sight, my young friend, it's a glorious sight!" Maria called. She pointed out over the top of the next ridge. As the young man jogged to the top of the rise he heard Mountainstrong give a loud, long trumpet. Cresting the hill he beheld a booming metropolis, and a parade of thousands of festive citizens streaming towards them. The sound he had heard had been music.

"It's your parade, my friend. Welcome to Sauropolis, Capitol of Dinotopia!"


End file.
